A Moroccan businessman gave me advice on how to get paid at last for my three miserable days in that Delphi shop in the distant Paris burbs. Go over to the agent's office at least three times and mess up their day! That's the only way you'll get them to pay you, he said. Darn, I hate climbing on the subway and doing this kind of dunning, but boy, I need the money. Following Karim's advice, I put the plan in action. Two visits raise a lot of promises and take a lot of my time, but nothing arrived at the bank. I finally returned from the bank, seriously depressed, and made yet another call to Computer Futures Solution. I insist on talking with someone besides Severine, and finally a fellow comes on the line claiming he's her boss. I briefly fill him in on my difficulties in getting paid, and mention my blog. At this, he flares up and fires back, 'We're not going to put up with blackmail. Blogs mean nothing to us at all.' I explain that I wasn't threatening him with anything, that 3000 readers of my blog already knew that I wasn't able to get paid for my work for his firm, and that they were all waiting, no doubt, to see the outcome, and I was just mentioning that since it seemed to me he ought to know that. This man called me back at 4 PM and said that the money was on the way, payment orders had been sent. Thanks for the advice, Karim! The squeeky wheel gets the oil. And thanks, Tim and the ITToolbox staff, for having provided me with a lever to use on this agent. It must have helped that I could use your name and quote how many people would one day read about the outcome. Yesterday with bated breath I inquired at my bank (the post office, actually) and there was 1015 EUROS smiling at me, five less than they owed me, but I'll settle gladly for that. That's 1600 dollars, as the dollar stands today... not a negligible amount. I asked for a lot of cash, stuck it in my wallet, and walked out feeling whole and hearty again for the first time in a long time. Nothing like a few weeks of eating canned goods for learning how good a lot of cash can feel in the pocket.